This story is from June 4, 2020

Assam: 70 migrants deboard train before destination, nabbed

Police in central Assam's Hojai district has apprehended 70 migrant workers for deboarding a Mumbai-Dibrugarh Shramaik Special train before it reached the Lumding station.
Assam: 70 migrants deboard train before destination, nabbed
People queue up outside the Guwahati railway station to board a Shramik Special train to Mumbai on Wednesday
GUWAHATI: Police in central Assam's Hojai district has apprehended 70 migrant workers for deboarding a Mumbai-Dibrugarh Shramaik Special train before it reached the Lumding station.
The workers who came from Mumbai wanted to escape Covid screening at Lumding, where they were about to deboard the train, police said.
The migrant workers pulled the chain of the train and tried to escape in the early hours on Wednesday, when the train just left Chaparmukh railway station.
Two cases - one by Railway Protection Force (RPF) and another by Hojai police - have been registered, Hojai superintendent of police Ankur Jain said.
He said legal action will be taken against them, but they were being sent to quarantine first. Around 2 am, the train stopped at Chaparmukh and the next station was Lumding. "We have made all arrangements for health screening at Lumding. But when this train was passing through Hojai, somebody pulled the chain. The train crossed the Hojai railway station platform and then came to a halt 300-400 meters from the platform. Since there was no scheduled halt at Hojai, necessary arrangements were not there, but GRP and RPF personnel were had been posted and they managed to catch hold of 65 people who deboarded the train. But some people escaped and police started a search operation. By this morning, five more people were nabbed," Jain told TOI.
"Most of them could not enter (their homes) as we managed to apprehend them while they were still on their way. We are also looking for someone else who might have escaped and have taken shelter somewhere. When someone behaves in this manner, it is the responsibility of the public to cooperate with the administration. If passengers and people do not cooperate with the administration, then it is very bad on their part," the Hojai SP added.
Police said about 500 people deboarded the same train at Lumding station and of them about 300 were from Hojai and neighbouring areas.
Investigating officials said the apprehended migrant workers did not want to stay in the quarantine centres. "If the returnees go to the quarantine centres, they can know whether they are contracted the virus. Outside, it is not easy to get that kind of tests done easily. Within three-four days, the administration is releasing the returnees in Assam. But some of the returnees from other states are not cooperating with the government," said a health official.
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About the Author
Kangkan Kalita

Kangkan Kalita is a reporter with The Times of India and covers issues on health, education, stories of human interest while keeping a close watch on political developments and student movements. Reporting on environment and forest related issues and concerns of the northeast interest him equally.

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